******
Mugwump - A person side-saddle on the fence, mug on one side and wump on the other.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
'To talk of many things;
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabbages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."(1)
In the Senator's life span, New Hampshire had a thriving manufacturing industry (shoes). Being landlocked and dependent on others for its life support, land based carriers have been and are essential (shipping).
His hatred of the President prompted his move to the Democrat party, although he calls himself an Independent. He has sealed his fate and unjustly others as well and put his stamp upon the committees who vote approval of the President's selection of Government heads (sealing wax).
So we talk of cabbages, which surely he is and kings which surely he is not.
Now we find the pot (sea) boiling hot, as the Nation rises to meet an enemy that has no face: Terrorism. We shall see if pigs can rise above it all and have wings.
Having chosen his lot, the Good Senator from New Hampshire can pick which of
the following descriptions best serves his cause and identifies him.
Is he a:
Long-tailed bird of Paradise,
Holier-than-thou-man,
Dude,
Pharisee.
Or perhaps he is a:
Man with a large following,
Great man,
Leader,
Duke
Or maybe he is one who is not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.
All of the above are within the characterization of a "Mugwump"(2).
******
(1) Lewis Carroll
The Walrus and the Carpenter
(2) In the presidential campaign of 1885, the term MUGWUMP appeared. It "signifying a Republican, who repudiated the nomination of James G. Blaine; or, as "The Nation" defined the word, "a man who, for some reason or other, is unable to vote his regular party ticket." Such men were called Republican, "Holier-than-thou-men,", "Dudes and Pharisees," a term accepted by "The Nation;" or as Thomas B. Reed, M. C., called them, in 1886, "long-tailed birds of Paradise."
The derivation of the word "mugwump" excited discussion; and Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford, Conn., in the New York "Critic," Sept. 6, 1884, and other writers in "Notes and Queries," maintained that the word was of Algonquin origin, in use on the New England coast, and occurring in Eliot's translation of the Bible, as in St. Matt. viii. 5, where the word "centurion" is rendered mugguomp, and in passages in the Old Testament, where it stands for "great man," "leader," or "duke," as in Gen. xxxvi. 40-42. Col. T. W. Higginson accepted this derivation in a speech during the campaign, "because," as he said, "^�mugwump' meant a man with a large following." A writer of "Notes and Queries" (S. 7, I 173) says that a Jesuit father, when translating the New Testament into an Indian dialect, found himself puzzled to give a good rendering for "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think," and, consulting an Indian parishioner, was told, "That's easy enough; that's mugwump.'" The word was first applied to bolting Republicans by the New York "Sun" as early as June 15, 1884; but the same paper had used it March 23 of that year, in speaking of a local controversy at Dobb's Ferry, printing "Mugwump D. O. Bradley" in large type at the top of a conspicuous column. The word had, however, been employed by the Indianapolis "Sentinel" as early as 1872.
The expression, "Turn the rascals out," referring to the "Republican party then in power, found its first use in the "Sun" in September 1883: "The first step toward a reform in the civil service is to turn the rascals out: the Republican party must go."
***
Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men, with Historical and Explanatory Notes, Samuel Arthur Bent, A. M. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, 1894, eighth edition, pp 594-95.
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*****
Mugwump - A person side-saddle on the fence, mug on one side and wump on the other.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
'To talk of many things;
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabbages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."(1)
In the Senator's life span, New Hampshire had a thriving manufacturing industry (shoes). Being landlocked and dependent on others for its life support, land based carriers have been and are essential (shipping).
His hatred of the President prompted his move to the Democrat party, although he calls himself an Independent. He has sealed his fate and unjustly others as well and put his stamp upon the committees who vote approval of the President's selection of Government heads (sealing wax).
So we talk of cabbages, which surely he is and kings which surely he is not.
Now we find the pot (sea) boiling hot, as the Nation rises to meet an enemy that has no face: Terrorism. We shall see if pigs can rise above it all and have wings.
Having chosen his lot, the Good Senator from New Hampshire can pick which of
the following descriptions best serves his cause and identifies him.
Is he a:
Long-tailed bird of Paradise,
Holier-than-thou-man,
Dude,
Pharisee.
Or perhaps he is a:
Man with a large following,
Great man,
Leader,
Duke
Or maybe he is one who is not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.
All of the above are within the characterization of a "Mugwump"(2).
******
(1) Lewis Carroll
The Walrus and the Carpenter
(2) In the presidential campaign of 1885, the term MUGWUMP appeared. It "signifying a Republican, who repudiated the nomination of James G. Blaine; or, as "The Nation" defined the word, "a man who, for some reason or other, is unable to vote his regular party ticket." Such men were called Republican, "Holier-than-thou-men,", "Dudes and Pharisees," a term accepted by "The Nation;" or as Thomas B. Reed, M. C., called them, in 1886, "long-tailed birds of Paradise."
The derivation of the word "mugwump" excited discussion; and Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford, Conn., in the New York "Critic," Sept. 6, 1884, and other writers in "Notes and Queries," maintained that the word was of Algonquin origin, in use on the New England coast, and occurring in Eliot's translation of the Bible, as in St. Matt. viii. 5, where the word "centurion" is rendered mugguomp, and in passages in the Old Testament, where it stands for "great man," "leader," or "duke," as in Gen. xxxvi. 40-42. Col. T. W. Higginson accepted this derivation in a speech during the campaign, "because," as he said, "^�mugwump' meant a man with a large following." A writer of "Notes and Queries" (S. 7, I 173) says that a Jesuit father, when translating the New Testament into an Indian dialect, found himself puzzled to give a good rendering for "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think," and, consulting an Indian parishioner, was told, "That's easy enough; that's mugwump.'" The word was first applied to bolting Republicans by the New York "Sun" as early as June 15, 1884; but the same paper had used it March 23 of that year, in speaking of a local controversy at Dobb's Ferry, printing "Mugwump D. O. Bradley" in large type at the top of a conspicuous column. The word had, however, been employed by the Indianapolis "Sentinel" as early as 1872.
The expression, "Turn the rascals out," referring to the "Republican party then in power, found its first use in the "Sun" in September 1883: "The first step toward a reform in the civil service is to turn the rascals out: the Republican party must go."
***
Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men, with Historical and Explanatory Notes, Samuel Arthur Bent, A. M. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, 1894, eighth edition, pp 594-95.